Characters / The Boys (2019): Vought International

The Boys (2019) Main Character Index
The Boys | Supes (The Seven, [Homelander, Starlight, Stormfront], Soldier Boy) | Vought International | Godolkin University | Others

"Ladies and gentlemen, it is without a doubt a good time to be in the Superhero business."

The American-based multi-billion dollar conglomerate that is responsible for managing, licensing and maintaining the superheroes of the world.

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Vought International

In General

• Adaptational Backstory Change: In the comics, they started out as a defense contractor in World War II with very faulty products. In the show, they're founded after the war by a German defector.
• Adaptational Badass: Due to their pre-supe business history Adapted Out, they're a first-rate superhero company ^noteor pharmaceutical company as Edgar would say rather than an Incompetence, Inc. defense company.
• Adaptational Name Change: It's Vought American in the comic, and Vought-American Consolidated before that. Although they did go by Vought American in the past, as Stan Edgar refers to them by that name in Mallory's flashback to 1984 Nicaragua.
• Adaptational Villainy: Somehow, Vought is presented as being more evil than they were in the comics. In the comics, even though they were a highly corrupt corporation, their attempts to push the wider adoption of Supes was limited to political power plays and appealing to public opinion. In the series, however, it is revealed that Vought uses their Supes to outright blackmail and even assassinate politicians who don't play ball with them. They're also revealed to be smuggling Compound V to terrorist groups in a bid to convince the US armed forces to adopt Supes through false flag operations. While that was later revealed to be all Homelander's plan, Stillwell is ecstatic when she hears about it, almost saying she wishes it had been her plan. The Supes' assorted damages are also portrayed as the result of Vought's corporate exploitation of them.
• Allegorical Character: Vought International is an allegory for modern-day commercialism. Vought International has no integrity and is content to turn a blind eye to Supe misdemeanors and outright deaths because the supes are too valuable and profitable an asset to see locked behind bars and will use corporate intervention to either silence witnesses or throw money at the problem to ensure it stays away. Vought will only publically condemn the problem to pay lip service and have no issues with ignoring the problem altogether behind closed doors. As shown with Compound-V and Soldier Boy, Vought has the power to make a difference but would rather use their power to make money than do anything practical.
• Bland-Name Product: Vought is such a massive company that they have their own counterparts to real products, such as "Voughtify"^note Spotify, "Vought+"^note Disney+, big conventions like "VoughtCon"^note Comic-Con, Voughtland^note Disneyland and a movie franchise dubbed the "Vought Cinematic Universe", or "VCU"^note Marvel Cinematic Universe, DC Expanded Universe.
• Bread and Circuses: They are very good at covering up collateral damage and needless deaths through brand deals, merchandising, buying silence from witnesses/survivors, and using contracts to control public relations.
  • They will tailor a hero's backstory so they'd be more relatable and profitable to the public, as shown in an interview where A-Train started going into his backstory of growing up poor and living in a rough neighborhood, only to be interrupted by the interviewer and told to change his backstory.
  • When Queen Maeve was outed by Homelander, Vought immediately started objectifying her and turning her into an LGBT icon, even trying to get her back together with her ex-girlfriend, despite Maeve's depression and clear discomfort with the spotlight.
  • After Starlight revealed how she was forced to perform oral sex on The Deep, Vought severed all ties to him and capitalized on Starlight's new title as a feminist icon.
• Corporate Conspiracy: They're initiating a "coup from the inside" of the US government as Raynor puts it, slowly replacing all essential figures with Vought toadies.
• Cut Lex Luthor a Check: With access to Compound V, a serum that gives people superpowers, the company earns a reputation for the creation and management of superheroes, while hiding that they do the former to the public. Edgar then clarifies that Vought is a pharmaceutical company first and foremost, with their most valuable asset being Compound V and its confidential formula, not its Supes.
• The Dreaded: With oversight over hundreds of Supes, great wealth, and numerous political connections, the company has earned a reputation for avoiding punishment for their crimes against humanity beyond the public circle. Most who want to speak out against the company are scared into silence. Hughie's father explicitly tells his son that suing Vought is futile.
• Evil, Inc.: The company responsible for the creation of Supes, which lead to all of the trouble and damage that those Supes may cause. Additionally, they run several ruthless experiments and projects in the name of furthering profit. Making sure to cover any incident that could harm their reputation, anything that opposes and challenges them is met with bribes, corrupt officials, blackmail, or assassination.
• Expy Coexistence: Despite Vought being partially a Fictional Counterpart to Disney, Stan Edgar mentions Walt Disney when discussing Vought's history in the season two premiere.
• Fictional Counterpart: While Vought is clearly meant to satirize various corporate conglomerates with power over large swathes of popular culture and even world governments, the most direct thing that they're spoofing is Disney after its acquisition of Marvel Comics. They own a streaming service called Vought+, and a movie studio with a logo very similar to Marvel Studios. They even have an amusement park called "Vought Land."
• Kent Brockman News: They have their own news network, VNN, naturally in support of them.
• The Man Behind the Man: The Boys' true enemy Vought as they are the one who perverted the system and pull the Supes' strings while enabling their depravity. Taking down one Supe means nothing in the grand scheme, as Vought has the means to replace them while the corporation itself and its schemes remain unscathed.
• MegaCorp: They are a corporation that is able to challenge government officials (including those in the CIA) and crush much of their opposition with their endless resources. They own several products, services, and eventually get Supes involved in armed forces, among their other projects as a pharmaceutical company. They additionally possess several compounds to pursue their objectives. In season 2, several major scandals come out against Vought which would normally end another company. All they do is shrug, point the finger at someone else, change the focus of the conversation, and business continues on as usual. They've become so big that they can't even fail anymore.
• Offscreen Villain Dark Matter: Justified by being a MegaCorp. They have practically endless resources thanks to profits from their possession of a Super Serum and its formula.
• Old Shame: In-universe example. Any traces of their true past pertaining to Frederick Vought and his work for the Nazis is kept hidden or downplayed by the company and its leadership. It's mostly for the sake of appearances, as they're continuing experiments and endeavors while willingly working with the late founder's wife, who is a Nazi herself.
• Propaganda Machine: Besides owning their own news station, Vought specializes in many advertisements, PSAs, sponsorships and product lines that put Supes in a positive light. The "Saving America" campaign is one prominent example.
• Private Military Contractors: By season 2, this ends up as one of their major endeavors, hiring out their Supes to the US military.
• Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: Have you or a loved one suffered at the hands of a Supe somehow, and you want to blow the whistle? Not to worry! In due time, a Vought worker will visit you very soon and offer you hush money in exchange for signing a non-disclosure agreement. It's best you take the offer, lest you try to fight Vought's army of lawyers backed by near infinite funding in a legal battle you can't possibly hope to win. Just ask Hughie or Valerie.
• Sigil Spam: The company owns many, many products and programs that are similarly named from things people normally use. Naturally, this means seeing Vought's logo and name on all of them.
• Super Serum: Compound V.
  • The regular version of the chemical has to be injected into an infant in-vitro, and causes them to develop powers as they grow. Adults can take it as well, but the chances of them getting powers is low with death being the other, more frequent result. Whether or not the powers are useful varies.
  • By Season 3, Vought has completed a new variant of Compound V known as V-24, which allows adults to temporarily gain powers (as the name implies, the powers last for 24 hours). Unlike with regular Compound V, V-24 always gives powers that are combat applicable, and usually gives at least three different abilities. It's a Flawed Prototype as well, as repeated dosages will lead to brain damage and eventually death.
• Strawman News Media: The Vought News Network, or VNN, whose reporting plays into conservative talking points while demeaning supposed opposition like Victoria Neumann at every turn, as seen on Seven on 7 with Cameron Coleman.
• Superhero Capital of the World: Their headquarters are located in New York City, where the Seven are stationed at all times.
• Villain with Good Publicity: As the company behind many superheroes, they are seen in a positive light by all of the fans of the projects that they've led. Their real business as a ruthless pharmaceutical company and any consequences behind their projects are hidden with financial compensation, corrupt officials, or blackmail.

Senior Executives

Stan Edgar

Stanford "Stan" Edgar

"I can't lash out like some raging entitled maniac. That is a white man's luxury."

Portrayed by: Giancarlo Esposito, Justiin Davis (young)

Dubbed by: Yasuhiro Kikuchi (Japanese)

"Real power... It's the ability to bend the world to your will."

The CEO of Vought.

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• Actor Allusion: A variant. Stan Edgar is similar to Lex Luthor; Giancarlo Esposito voices the man himself in Harley Quinn (2019). There are also occasions (especially when Stan is in Tranquil Fury mode) where he evokes Esposito's most famous character, Gustavo Fring.
• Adaptational Badass: This version of Mr. Edgar is a cunning chessmaster who browbeats Homelander on more than one occasion.
• Adaptational Context Change: While he makes a remark about Supes being a "Bad Productline", in the comics it is said as part of a Villainous Breakdown as James Stillwell realizes that Vought is screwed from the fallout off how several Supes acted. Here, it's directed mainly at Homelander after the latter ousts him from Vought, and is treated more triumphantly, because now Edgar has an excuse to escape the shitstorm he knows is coming.
• Affably Evil: While he is a ruthless and cutthroat businessman, Stan is a gentleman to everyone. He shows gratitude to a waiter for simply serving him water, he's genuinely respectful towards Butcher during their confrontation, and he has a loving relationship with his adoptive daughter, Victoria.
• Armor-Piercing Response: He typically gives these to Homelander of all people.
• Ascended Extra: He makes a few appearances in the comic conversing with Stillwell before dying off-screen, possibly killed at Stillwell's order. The show makes him a Stillwell stand-in, with a much bigger role in Season 2 as a Greater-Scope Villain up against Homelander and Stormfront.
• Badass in a Nice Suit: Befitting for the calculating CEO of a massive and well-connected company like Vought.
• The Bad Guy Wins: The end of Season 2 has him as the only villain to come out on top, with Stormfront being fried alive, Homelander cowed into submission, and Alastair Adana missing his head after he tried throwing his weight against Vought.
• Big Bad Wannabe: Surprisingly ends up as this in season three, as Homelander convinces Victoria to turn against him and expose Vought's crimes. Edgar is forced to go on a temporary — likely to become permanent — leave of absence, but takes it with grace and remains confident Homelander's Manchild tendencies will lead to him inevitably screwing himself over again.
• Blatant Lies: He is really good at underplaying problems or diverting blames. For exemple when he tells Dakota Bob Temp V is going to be ready after they iron out the kinks, the truth is Temp V is causing severe brain lesions that lead to death after three doses.
• Boomerang Bigot: Played with. While he doesn't hate other black persons, he's very willing to follow racist trends or work with known racists if it advances his plans or result in bigger profts:
  • Despite knowing that Stormfront was a literal nazi, he had no problem getting her inducted into the Seven as a power play to keep Homelander under control.
  • A flashback in Season 3 shows that he forced fellow African-American Black Noir into an all concealing costume not just because silent, mysterious ninjas ala Snake Eyes were popular back then as he initially claimed, but because black superheroes were much harder to market.
• Break the Haughty: Nearly every time he talks to Homelander, he delivers crippling, well-deserved blows to the latter's self-esteem in order to keep him in line. Even after Homelander ousts him from the company, Edgar maintains his composure and gets one last dig in, pointing out that no one will ever truly love him.
• Celebrity Paradox: Star Wars is referenced in an episode of Gen V. Giancarlo Esposito played Moff Gideon in The Mandalorian.
• The Chessmaster: He contrasts himself with the short-sighted plans Homelander comes up with by thinking in the long term. Compare their plans for getting in the government. Homelander releases the confidential Compound V to the public in order to create Supe terrorists that will drum up public fear and get Supes involved with national defense as soon as possible, ensuring that Vought's monopoly over their greatest asset will come to an end. Edgar on the other hand, plants agents loyal to Vought all over the government. He specifically brings Stormfront back into the limelight, knowing how good she is at inciting public fear despite disagreeing with her personal agenda. With some patience, it would only be a matter of time before the government itself is controlled by Vought, Supes get into the military anyways, and Compound V stays confidential.
• Composite Character: He was a minor character in the comics given a stoic demeanor and fashion sense taken from the comics' James Stillwell. In Season 3, his role in Mallory's mission gives him elements of Senator Bush, although he survived the Supes' havoc.
• Corrupt Corporate Executive: He's the CEO of Vought, The Chessmaster behind the product that is "the Seven", making him the show's real Big Bad. With this in mind, he honestly gives Lex Luthor a run for his money as the definitive example in all of fiction.
• Cut Lex Luthor a Check: Homelander and many others are mistaken that Vought is a "superhero company." Edgar makes it known that they are not; they are a pharmaceutical company, and are using Compound V among other projects to make massive profits.
• Deadpan Snarker: Seen when addressing plans to incorporate Supes into armed forces and when he's confronted by Homelander in his office.
• Didn't See That Coming: He's ultimately correct that Homelander is an incompetent buffoon who will ruin himself with his ego. What he didn't expect was that Homelander would stop caring about his public image and embrace his monstrous and capricious behavior.
• Disc-One Final Boss: He's set up as a major antagonist as the CEO of Vought, with his plans to mass-produce Compound V for military use being the driving force behind the company's evil. He's ousted by Homelander halfway through Season 3 before these plans can properly get off the ground.
• Dissonant Serenity: Is completely calm at all times, whether he's negotiating with the Defense Department over how Vought's supes are deployed on the battlefield or he's being threatened by a sociopathic superhuman like Homelander.
• Dramatic Irony: His introduction in the series has him grooming Stillwell as his successor in the company. Yet the same scene serves to set him up as Stillwell's successor character in the series.
• The Dreaded: Other than Soldier Boy, he's the only character in the entire show that Homelander has admitted to being afraid of at least at some point in the past. Despite what Homelander denies, this is still likely the case because he has a habit of compensating for his insecurities by putting other people down. Edgar seems to confirm this when he claims Homelander always looked for his approval, which is almost identical to what James Stilwell says to Homelander in the comics. His subordinates are also clearly scared to inform him of any bad news.
• Early-Bird Cameo: Appears once in Season 1 before taking on a major role in Season 2.
• Et Tu, Brute?: Stan Edgar is startled when Victoria turns on him, getting him ousted as head of Vought to replace him with Homelander, despite how close they are. Although, it's subverted later on as he instead takes it in stride with the thought of her taking more after himself than he realized and doesn't hold it against her after the fact.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He shows to have a soft spot for Victoria Neuman, who is his adoptive daughter (or sort of), which is telling since he tends to be very cold to everyone else. Season 3 also reveals that he has a Villainous Friendship with Black Noir. In a flashback, it's shown that he had no issue with Black Noir talking freely to him about his issues with his costume and used Black Noir's real name when conversing with him.
• Even Evil Has Standards:
  • Vocally condemns Frederick Vought's experimentation on human test subjects. It's not really clear if it's part of the company's attempt to keep up appearances or if he genuinely disapproves, but he notes this after he's begun telling Homelander the real story about Vought's founder. Given that he's ordering human experimentation of Compound V at Sage Grove Center and continuing Frederick's work, it's implied it's just for public appearances.
  • When talking with Butcher, with a dose of Pragmatic Villainy, he says that the whole reason Vought cut the deal with Becca is that he knows a growing child needs a mother. If Butcher separates Ryan and Becca as part of their deal, Ryan would be Homelander version 2.0 but with the added instability of having Homelander for a father. It says something that Butcher found himself agreeing with this and ordered Becca and Ryan to go with Mother's Milk into hiding, because he can't repeat the cycle of neglect.
  • He later expresses distaste, as a black man, for having to employ Stormfront as a member of the Seven.
  • As he establishes in his first scene, he respects Homelander about as far as he could throw him. Though even he seems perturbed and disgusted when an audience member mocks Homelander about Stormfront's suicide during his birthday programme.
  • He is also fervently against the Supes becoming a military asset, mostly as experience had taught him, they simply do not have the mental conditioning necessary to serve in combat and will cause a massive amount of colleterial damage in the process from their sheer ego; so he'd rather empower actual soldiers with a new variant of Compound V that only temporarily bolsters its users, which both allows Vought to gain further leverage over the government while preventing unnecessary headaches for all parties involved with fielding superpowered soldiers.
• Evil Genius: His cunning and leadership of the company behind Compound V end up being just as threatening, if not moreso, compared to the Supes the Boys face.
• Evil Versus Evil: Is facing opposition from Homelander.
• Fatal Flaw: His underestimation of Homelander. While Edgar correctly recognizes that Homelander is a Manchild Attention Whore who really should have been told "no" more often as a child, he fails to consider that Homelander has a very fragile psyche that is only barely held in check by the previously mentioned flaws. By Season 3, it's clear that Homelander is done putting up with Vought, and he's perfectly willing to forgo being loved in favor of being feared. This is especially bad for Edgar because it allows Homelander to capitalize on the one thing he has that Vought can't take away — the fact he's a presumably indestructible superhuman who could easily destroy an entire army and has absolutely no known weaknesses.
• Four Eyes, Zero Soul: A bespectacled man and not a particularly nice one at that.
• The Glasses Come Off: Right before Edgar lays onto Homelander, he pauses to take his glasses off and put them away.
• Graceful Loser: While initially shocked by Victoria's betrayal ousting him from Vought, by the time Homelander comes to gloat over it Edgar's already gotten over it. In fact he's proud of Victoria for it and leaves with grace while also telling off Homelander one last time, calling him a bad product who's facade will soon crumble in his attempts to control Vought.
• Greater-Scope Villain: Although Edgar's plans are the driving force behind Vought's actions, he has yet to come into direct conflict with the Boys, with Homelander and other Supes instead being the primary generators of conflict throughout the series. Edgar is nonetheless instrumental in maintaining the culture that supports them while turning a blind eye to their myriad crimes except to the extent that they can be publicly tied back to the company, at which point he'll either cover it up or spin it for PR control.
• Hidden Depths: He implies that he's dealt with racism in the past while clawing his way up to the top of the corporate world.
• I Control My Minions Through...: Edgar uses a varied set of methods to keep his subordinates in line.
  • Authority: most Supes work for him due to being Vought assets, so he can just throw his bureaucratic weight around to keep them in line.
  • Material Benefits: as a corollary to the above, Supes and employees that are loyal to him are usually guaranteed fame and fortune.
  • Fear: Homelander is the one Supe Edgar cannot stand (due to the latter being extremely reckless and unable to think things through, resulting in him messing up Edgar's carefully laid plans), and his ego makes him normally untouchable. So Edgar bluntly threatens to destroy Homelander's public image if he defies Vought, which manages to cow the Supe into submission.
  • Love: Edgar's mole in the US Government, Victoria Neuman, is his adoptive daughter, and it's made clear that he genuinely loves her, and she him. He's notably softer toward her than other Supes and consoles her when she's conflicted on the more immoral orders he gives her.
• Irony: In their finale meeting in Season 3, Stan Edgar tells smilingly to Homelander that he is sure he will regret taking over Vought and that the world will see "the pitiful disappointment" Homelander is. Except, by the end of the season, Homelander doesn't care anymore about pleasing the audience and faking his public persona, and he shows his true color by killing a Starlight supporter in front of hundreds of people. The crowd cheers up for him instead of seeing him as a "pitiful disappointment".
• It's Personal: It's implied that he knows that it was Homelander and not Butcher who laid the final blow on Madelyn Stillwell given how it was strange that her newborn baby was found miles away in a field. As a result, he is not happy when talking with Homelander about how the latter is being a Manchild and upset corporate plans.
• Jerkass to One: He generally prefers to be polite and respectful when dealing with associates and rivals. However, Homelander is so deeply unpleasant and immature that Edgar becomes more and more hostile towards him as time goes on.
• Knight of Cerebus: He makes moves against Homelander and has a serious air to him, raising the stakes of the show even higher with his addition of Stormfront.
• Lack of Empathy: Edgar is a cutthroat businessman through and through, he sees the superheroes as products he grows tired of pushing, nevermind all the past and current human experiments that broke so many lives. Even at a small scale he can be rather callous like eating nuts in front of Noir even when the latter is clearly uncomfortable because of his allergies and refuses to stop when asked. It is not that Stan is a sociopath as he does show care for others in his stoic way it's more that as he stated to the Seven he and them are all part of a bigger organism that is Vought and being ready to exploit anyone for advancement or survival is fine by him.
• Named by the Adaptation: He is given the name Stanford, or "Stan" for short.
• Nerves of Steel: Not only is he completely unfazed by an infuriated Homelander, he sends the most powerful being alive away to sulk. Without so much as raising his voice.
  • Even when Edgar was forced out of Vought, Homelander admiringly notes that Edgar, whose entire world had just collapsed around him and no longer had any kind authority over Homelander, was so nonplussed that even his blood pressure levels didn't change.
• Never My Fault: His actions are, either directly or indirectly, responsible for how dangerously unstable the Supes he despises so much are. As shown with Homelander, covering up their crimes and catering to their every whim for decades deprives them of any notion of consequences for their actions. Yet he blames them for ruining his company. Hits its zenith when we learn that he gave the greenlight for raising Homelander, the son of Soldier Boy, to replace the latter, meaning Edgar is entirely responsible for how Homelander turned out, but refuses to accept responsibility for it.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: While he's a villain, he's the Lesser of Two Evils compared to Homelander. Edgar brought in Stormfront to challenge Homelander, so that the leader of the Seven could be brought into line by a threat to his popularity. It worked at first, but ran into an unexpected complication: Homelander ended up falling in love with Stormfront, allowing her to expose and indoctrinate him to her beliefs. This has the major side effect of making his current plans for controlling Homelander moot, as by Season 3, while Homelander wants to be loved, he's willing to settle for being feared.
• Nice to the Waiter: He's shown to be courteous to the restaurant staff during his social call with Billy Butcher.
• No Badass to His Valet: Supe or not, he will never tolerate Vought being endangered.
• Non-Action Big Bad: Not a physical fighter, but runs Vought coldly.
• Nothing Personal: As he tells Billy in the season 2 finale, no one at Vought tried to ruin his life for some sort of vendetta. It was all done for numbers and profit.
• Not So Stoic: His normally unflappable demeanor flickers when Victoria betrays him. He can only manage a tearful "Why?" at her actions. He does eventually recover, admitting he's proud of her.
• Pet the Dog: He was sincerely planning to retire and have Madelyn take his place in running Vought. In fact, he tells her that he knows she's up for the challenge. In season 2, he's much surlier when talking with Homelander, with the implication being that he figured out who was responsible for cutting his retirement plans short.
  • There's also the reveal that he has something of a respectful relationship with Black Noir, confiding with him alone to lead the plan to dispose of Soldier Boy. The sheer fact that he gave Black Noir status as their flagship hero for a while before Homelander was ready, and kept him as his closest asset after the fact, all after his traumatic brain injury from the battle with Soldier Boy implies that he is, on some level, apologetic for what happened to him and decided to reward him for his sacrifices to Vought.
• Pragmatic Villainy: Everything he does is ensured to benefit the company, not needlessly ruin people's lives. He condemns Homelander's plan to militarize Supes; not because he created powerful Super Terrorists but because he released Compound V into the world, endangering the company. In the season 2 finale, Mr. Edgar is perfectly willing to cut a deal with Butcher in the hope of bringing Ryan back under Vought's control. as revealed in Season 3, he was willing to listen to Mallory's objections regarding Payback's deployment against the Sandinistas, because it was her operation and he needed to make sure the government would trust him. Swatto refusing to follow his orders (flying without getting clearance from Mallory) results in the fight becoming a disaster.
• Race Lift: White in the comics.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: After Homelander complains about being left out of the loop and threatens to quit Vought, Stan shuts him down with this speech. Unlike Stillwell, Stan isn't going to mollify Homelander no matter how much the evil superman tries to intimidate him:
  Stan: The point is that you are under a misconception that we are a superhero company. We are not. What we are, really, is a pharmaceutical company. And you are not our most valuable asset. That would be our confidential formula for Compound V. Which you, man-child that you are, released into the wild.
  Homelander: Don't know what you're talking about.
  Stan: Well, let me remind you. You slipped Compound V to terrorists all over the globe to get you and your cronies into national defense. But maybe at the cost of destroying the whole company.
  Homelander: I don't think I appreciate your tone, sir. Not much at all.
  Stan: And I don't appreciate that the FDA now knows about Compound V, or that it's only a matter of time before the public finds out. While you're preening at the Golden Globes we're busy, running around like maniacs, trying to clean up the mess you made. I don't have to consult you about Stormfront or anything else. Now... I believe you have a premiere of Tek Knight Lives to go to?
  • He also delivers another, more subdued one to Homelander again in Season 3 after the latter turns Victoria Neumann against Edgar and ousts him as the Vought CEO. While Edgar praises Homelander and admits that there's no one left in the company who can stand up to him, he also points out that there's no one left who can clean after his messes and cover his many mistakes, and sooner or later, people will see Homelander for the incompetent, immature Manchild he really is, with the following episodes proving Edgar right, as Homelander has no idea on how to lead a multi-billion dollar company, and his extremely fragile ego won't allow him to admit that he's out of his depth.
• Sophisticated as Hell: Edgar normally speaks in careful erudite corporate-speak. However occasionally when he's angry, he slips into more informal speech and swearing.
  Stan: [Laughs] Not the self-serving bullshit we peddle to the shareholders!
• Stepford Smiler: His conversation with Homelander begins with him acting polite before laying into him.
• The Stoic: Exhibits an eerie perpetual calmness like Stillwell in the comics (not to mention another Giancarlo Esposito character).
• Strong Empire, Shriveled Emperor: Despite being the CEO of Vought, he himself is an old man who's never taken Compound V in his life, and he admits to Butcher during their negotiations that he has to maintain a strict diet. Homelander himself complains about how he has to work under such an ancient non-supe.
• Surrounded by Idiots: Edgar and Vought employees spend most of their jobs babysitting and covering for all the Supes running around. By season 3, he admits to Singer that the mounting criticisms of Vought are 100% well founded, and that the only way to survive would be to cut out Supes altogether and turn Vought strictly into a pharmaceutical and military company.
• Taught by Experience: Season 3 reveals that he didn't push for Supes to go into the military because of the disastrous initial combat outing of Payback getting most of Mallory's CIA team killed in Nicaragua. Edgar realized that most Supes simply don't have the mental acuity needed for fighting on the frontlines, so he instead decided to make a variant of Compound V that could give adults superpowers (albeit temporarily) in order to keep Vought in the game — giving trained soldiers powers makes them less likely to let the power go to their heads. This is also the reason he opposed Homelander trying to brute force Vought into the military — he knows exactly how badly this could backfire.
• Time-Shifted Actor: Justiin Davis plays a young version of Edgar in Season Three. He is excellent at replicating Giancarlo Esposito's speech patterns and mannerisms.
• Too Dumb to Live: Edgar is portrayed as a brilliant executive and master manipulator, and for the most part his actions show this, but one has to wonder if he really thought through the consequences of replacing Soldier Boy with someone even stronger who was being tortured in cruel experiments in a lab since birth. Edgar's ability to manipulate Homelander protects him for a long time, but it's no surprise that sooner or later Homelander got tired of the leash and snapped it.
• Tranquil Fury: He never raises his voice, but he is clearly livid when he chews Homelander out for his behavior in Season 1. In the Season 2 finale, he explains to Butcher that as a black man he doesn't have the privilege to express his anger openly.
• Two First Names: Edgar is a common first name for men.
• The Unfettered: One does not survive the shark-infested waters of Vought and stand on the peak of the corporate world without a measure of ruthlessness. He's ordered human experimentation and assassinations as part of his plan to make Vought more valuable.
• Villain Has a Point: During a private conversation between him and Robert Singer, he actually points out a major flaw in Vought's superhero program and uses it to explain why he wants to leave the Superhero business. He points out that giving members of the public superpowers at a young age will affect their maturity and personal development, resulting in a bunch of undisciplined manchildren and morons having immense powers and becoming complacent with getting whatever they want while Vought cleans up the mess. Instead of making money for the company, they've just been draining valued resources and lost more money than they were supposed to make for the company.]]
• Villain Respect: Shows a good amount of respect to Butcher, even allowing his corporate facade to drop momentarily when discussing Stormfront.
• Worthy Opponent: Seen as this by both Stomfront and Homelander. Stormfront (despite being a literal Nazi seeking to create a race of super-Aryans) acknowledges Stan's intelligence and follows his orders as the CEO of Vought. As for Homelander, Stan is only one of two ordinary humans (and, along with Butcher, Maeve, and Starlight, one of only a small handful of individuals) who can insult Homelander to his face and get away with it.
• Xanatos Speed Chess: On top of being The Chessmaster, he's very quick to think on his feet. He didn't expect Homelander to be stupid enough to leak Compound V to the public, throwing a wrench into Vought's plan to keep its existence discreet. In response, he brings back Stormfront back into the spotlight so that she would spread fear among the public to regain control of the narrative, as well as control Homelander himself. By the end of Season 2, despite all the bombshells exploding in his face, Edgar is the only one of the villains to come out unscathed.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Season 3 reveals that he wants get Vought out of the Superhero business. After decades of dealing with the often stupid and unpredictable celebrity superheroes, his main plan is to render them obsolete by giving trained soldiers temporary powers using the V24 drug.

Madelyn Stillwell

Madelyn Stillwell

"Why have average when you can have extraordinary?"

Portrayed by: Elisabeth Shue

Dubbed by: Takako Honda (Japanese)

"You want to be a superhero. You want to be famous. But nobody's famous alone."

Senior Vice President of Hero Management at Vought, whom the Seven reports to for every action they take.

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• Abusive Parents: Season 3 reveals that Teddy has superpowers, implying that Madelyn either dosed him with Compound V or took it while she was pregnant with him.
  • She was also the the closest thing to a mother figure Homelander had growing up, and is a major reason why he's a complete sociopath. There's also a bizarre sexual aspect to their relationship, and the horrifying implication that she groomed Homelander since childhood and possibly outright molested the young Homelander.
• Absurdly Elderly Mother: Homelander states that he's surprised that she could have a child at her age (late fifties, going by the actress's age, making it a fair question).
• Adaptational Wimp: Homelander never got the better of comic Stillwell, who was completely unfazed by him.
• Arc Villain: For Season 1 as the Seven's primary handler, with Homelander as the Dragon-in-Chief. She gets killed by Homelander before she could become a series-wide Big Bad.
• Big Bad Wannabe: In the end, while Stillwell controls the entire corporate aspect of the heroes and gets them to toe the line more than once with subtle threats towards their money and positions, she's still ultimately just a regular human being compared to superheroes. So it should come as no shock that Homelander kills her with ease once he gets tired of her manipulations.
• Consummate Liar: She lies to Homelander about how Becca and his son died in childbirth. Homelander finds out only because it contradicts Vogelbaum's account of the same story.
• Cruel and Unusual Death: Homelander kills her by using his eye-lasers directly into her eyes, melting away a chunk of her surrounding face with it. The gasp she makes implies that she certainly felt at least part of it before she expired.
• Death by Adaptation: Her comic counterpart lived through the entire series and was a downplayed Karma Houdini to boot. In the show, she is murdered by Homelander in the first season finale.
• Deceased Fall-Guy Gambit: Any issues that Vought faces, mostly regarding the Compound V leak to the public, are pinned onto her after her death.
• Decomposite Character: She has comic Stillwell's last name, Nerves of Steel (to an extent), and overseer position of The Seven, but the sociopathic, Dissonant Serenity stoicism is given to Stan Edgar of the show.
• Deliver Us from Evil: Notably averted. She has a new baby whom she dotes on, but it has clearly not made her the least bit less of a ruthless and amoral Corrupt Corporate Executive.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: For as horrible and manipulative as she is, Madelyn deeply cares about her newborn baby. When Butcher ties her up to a set of explosives and Homelander comes walking in with her son, she is terrified that he might get hurt and begs Homelander to take him somewhere safe.
• Even Evil Has Standards: When Homelander reveals that he has been injecting terrorists with Compound V, Stillwell hides her face from Homelander (and the camera) the entire time, implying she is horrified at this development.
• Faux Affably Evil: She has a very warm and personable demeanor, despite being completely morally bankrupt.
• Gender Flip: Stillwell is a man in the comics and a woman in the series.
• Glamorous Single Mother: She's a single mother with an infant son, Teddy, juggling this without any difficulty alongside her high-powered executive position. It's justified by the presumably very high salary and privilege of her job.
• Irony: When Homelander first made his debut, Stillwell believed that Stan Edgar had plans to embarrass her. As the main series shows, he either never had plans to do so in the first place or reconsidered, and is perfectly fine with letting her succeed him. Homelander killing her noticeably displeases Edgar, something he makes very clear to Homelander.
• Middle-Management Mook: Despite managing the Seven, she's nothing more than middle ranked in the Vought ladder. By the end of Season 1, her successes earns her a promotion to Floor 82 where the executives are, and she's to be groomed as the next CEO after Edgar retires.
• Nerves of Steel: She never lets her emotions show on the surface or get the better of her. When Starlight successfully defies her orders, she keeps her friendly smile and demeanor until she leaves, at which point she starts cursing. However, while at Homelander's mercy, she admits that she's always been afraid of him.
• Opportunistic Bastard: It quickly becomes apparent that she's not the one controlling Homelander, and in fact seems horrified by his extracurricular activities like killing the Mayor of Baltimore and handing over Compound V to various terrorist groups. But she is very capable of using the consequences of those actions to further her goal of getting supes in the military.
• Pædo Hunt: Being the only real mother figure he had growing up, Stillwell also groomed a young Homelander into being her sexual partner, and it's heavily implied by her behavior, especially in the Diabolical episode featuring a younger Homelander that their sexual relationship likely began while he was underage.
• Parental Substitute: Homelander regards her as something of a mother figure as he never had one. She exploits this to control him as much as possible, and Diabolical implies that she purposely groomed him to see her as both this and his sexual partner.
• Rank Up: She's made the Vice President of Vought at the end of Season 1.
• The Scapegoat: In Season 2, the leaking of Compound V's existence to the press is credited to a team working under Stillwell.
• Smug Snake: This version of Stillwell's position of control is much more imagined than it was in the comics. In particular, she seems to think her acting as a mother-figure to Homelander will grant her his absolute loyalty and thinks she can keep lying to him about his child, with doing so resulting in him killing her in a rage.
• Wife Husbandry: The Diabolical cartoon implies, that with everything else, she raised Homelander to be her lover since he was a kid.
• Wrong Genre Savvy: In many ways, Stillwell thinks she is in the world of the comics it was originally based on: where the supers are all blithering incompetents and Homelander, while a murderous piece of crap, is, in the end, all bark and no bite to someone who doesn't rise to his preening. This assumption is quickly proven wrong when Homelander just kills her.

Frederick Vought

Dr. Frederick Vought

"Got his doctorate from Munich. Ahead of his time in genetics. Such the rising young star that in '39, Hitler appointed him chief physician at Dachau, where he enjoyed a ready supply of human subjects on which to test his earliest iterations of Compound V, for which we condemn in the strongest of possible terms. Early in '44, he felt the winds change, got spirited away to the Allies."

—Stan Edgar

The founder of the company and the scientist behind Compound V.

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• Adaptational Villainy: To the extent he has elements of comic Vogelbaum, who was a pretty reluctant researcher and got out of Germany before WWII, while Vought seems to have been a lot more willing and only switched sides when it became clear he was working for the losing side.
• Based on a Great Big Lie: His "autobiography" was a story made to make the company look good to their shareholders.
• Corrupted Character Copy: To Dr. Abraham Erskine. He also creates superhumans, but is a deliberate Nazi rather than having escaped them. Even his turn to the Allies appears to have been purely pragmatic rather than based in morality.
• Dark Secret: His past as the Nazis' chief genetic scientist remains Vought International's. That his wife was the first supe, and that Vought himself remained an unreconstructed Nazi all his life, also count.
• Decomposite Character: A more villainous take on Vogelbaum's comic backstory; a defector from Nazi Germany and responsible for Compound V and Stormfront, dating the work all the way back to WWII.
• Deconstructed Character Archetype: He's essentially what somebody with the willingness and capabilities to create a super-soldier formula would be like if they capitalized on the success found while eschewing all ethics. Creation of a serum that dramatically changes human genetics requires a basis, so he went to work with human testing. He was able to experiment on several humans under a regime that would allow and encourage his operations. In the goal of genetically engineering an army of supermen, he ensured that his formula would not be limited in its use. With the war over, he would go on to create a company centered around this new invention to find further uses for it.
• Disposable Superhero Maker: His work averts this, specifically engineered to be mass-produced to create more and more Supes.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He genuinely loved his wife and daughter.
• Evil Genius: The mind behind Compound V, originally working under Hitler to create supersoldiers.
• For Want Of A Nail: His development of Compound V is the primary difference between our world and the world of The Boys.
• Genetic Engineering Is the New Nuke: He and his work are outright compared to Oppenheimer planning the atomic bomb, even stated to have been successful before the bomb was made. His projects during WWII escalated to the world of Supes we know today. Mildly Subverted when it's revealed in Season 3 that, unlike the atom bomb, Soldier Boy saw no actual combat in the war.
• Hazy-Feel Turn: By 1944, he "felt the winds change" as Edgar puts it, submitting his work to Allied forces instead of Nazi Germany. Season 2 Episode 6 strongly suggests the switch was purely pragmatic, as his widow Stormfront remains firmly committed to Nazi ideology and speaks of Homelander as the fulfilment of their shared dream.
• Herr Doktor: A geneticist earning his degree from Munich, appointed by Hitler to operate at Dachau. He later defected to the Americans rather than be recruited later through Operation Paperclip.
• I Fight for the Strongest Side!: Defected to the Allies when he realized the "Thousand-Year" Reich wouldn't survive the decade.
• In Spite of a Nail: Despite inventing Compound V even before Oppenheimer could complete the atomic bomb and in time for a fervent Nazi to be the first Supe candidate, the Axis Powers still lost and much of history went as it did in our timeline.
• Karma Houdini: A Nazi scientist who experimented on prisoners at Dachau, but his work was useful to the Allies so, despite only betraying the Nazis because he knew the German war effort was doomed, he was given a pardon and started a new life in the United States. All indications are he died a wealthy, powerful and respected man, his true colors only becoming public knowledge decades after his death, and even then it was only done to discredit his widow.
• Mad Scientist: Willing to use many human test subjects to perfect his Super Serum formula.
• Morally Ambiguous Doctorate: The scientist originally made Compound V for the Nazis and was provided fresh batches of human subjects by the Führer.
• Old Shame: An in-universe case, with Stan Edgar noting that the company does not condone the man's history and experiments. Not that it stopped them from continuing his experiments to refine Compound V.
• Posthumous Character: Long dead, but his legacy lives on with his company.
• Predecessor Villain: As the founder of Vought and creator of Compound V, his work dates back to WWII and marks him as largely responsible for ushering in a world of Supes and all the conflict that comes with, and his wife continues his dream of enacting a Nazi reign long after his death.
• Small Role, Big Impact: He's just a backstory character, yet he is the reason why history diverged from real life to the world of the show.
• Stupid Jetpack Hitler: It turns out that Compound V is rooted in Nazi experiments for Super Soldiers and was successfully engineered in time to provide the Allies Supes of their own. But not before granting fervent Nazi party member Stormfront her abilities first.
• Super Serum: He invented Compound V, which gives superpowers to people it's injected into.
• Super-Soldier: His work stems from making these, first for Nazi Germany and then later for the Allied powers.
• Tested on Humans: He received several human test subjects for his genetic experiments, much to the modern company's public disapproval.
• Those Wacky Nazis: He worked to create super soldiers for them. Stormfront reveals that she married him and that he was part of the political party, set in their ideology.
• The Unfettered: He wasted no time with the many human test subjects needed to perfect Compound V, and he made the switch to the Allies so he could continue his work, rather than any moral objection to the Nazis.
• Unholy Matrimony: Season 2 Episode 6 reveals that he was Stormfront's husband, and she was the first successful recipient of Compound-V. Even after abandoning the German war effort, they apparently both remained committed Nazis.
• Villain with Good Publicity: A Nazi defector with an autobiography that paints him as an American-born patriot. Not even Vought's shareholders are privy to his true origins, and Edgar has to tell Homelander how Vought created Compound V and started his company. A-Train and the Boys end this in the season 2 finale when they leak his past as a Nazi.
• Would Hurt a Child: Compound V works best when it is applied to infants. Given that the formula required many human tests, this inevitably happened. In a deleted scene, Stormfront simplifies part of his plan as "inject[ing] a few babies."

Ashley Barrett

Ashley Barrett

Portrayed by: Colby Minifie

Dubbed by: Mirei Kumagai (Japanese)

The Director of Talent Relations at Vought International.

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• Anti-Villain: Ashley is not the best person by any means, often coming across as a neurotic and mean boss by cussing out or degrading her underlings and having more interest in public image than doing what's right. That being said, she's not a sociopath and reacts to Homelander's actions with appropriate shock and horror. She remains complicit in many of his crimes mostly as a way to avoid his deadly wrath rather than having an outright malicious agenda of her own, and has (albeit, very rare) moments of sincere sympathy and insight. Ashley's brand of mundane villainy seems to represent the shallowness of the corporate world more than anything else.
• Adaptation Name Change: She's arguably the show's version of Jessica Bradley, Stillwell's protege who gets afflicted with trichotillomania.
• Authority in Name Only: Homelander brings her back in Season 2 to replace Stillwell as the Seven's manager, except Homelander immediately makes it clear she's nothing more than a puppet for him. Even the rest of the Seven don't respect her and flat out ignore her orders at times. In Season 3 she gets promoted to CEO in Edgar's place, yet it is Homelander who sits at the head of the table and to whom the board answers to.
• Bad Boss: While she's nowhere as bad as Homelander, Ashley is a very verbally abusive boss who chews out her staff for the smallest of mistakes and, at one point, even emulates Homelander's treatment of her,^note Is your idiot brain getting fucked by stupid? even before she was made CEO. In Season 3, when she's promoted to CEO, she's this by default of condoning Homelander and The Deep's ludicrous whims and not using her position to stop it, such as The Deep firing most of the surveillance team, and allowing Homelander to verbally intimidate a worker. This can be justified, as her constantly having to please a bunch of emotionally volatile Supes creates an environment that does not tolerate any slip-ups, and any of her staff's mistakes will reflect badly onto her, which opens her up to some very real danger.
• Baldness Angst: She wears a wig to cover up her balding scalp and even dares to weakly deny it at first when Homelander orders her to take it off.
• Baldness Means Sickness: Specifically, a mental/psychological sickness. In season 3, the stress of dealing with Homelander has caused her to start suffering from trichotillomania. By the season finale, she has to start wearing a wig to cover up the fact that she's nearly bald from literally tearing her hair out.
• Beleaguered Assistant: She comes across as one to Stillwell, and ends up being fired over Starlight exposing the sexual assault by the Deep. And then in Season 2 she's hired back for Stillwell's job... and even then it's still pure suffering, given she's working directly with Homelander and Stormfront.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: She can barely conceal her disdain for Starlight beneath her condescendingly friendly mask.
• Blood-Spattered Innocents: During the hearing of Jonah Vogelbaum, two people near her have their heads exploded, covering her in blood.
• Break the Haughty: In season 3, she gives a "The Reason You Suck" Speech to A-Train and refuses to press charges after Blue Hawk cripples his brother. Considering how much of a self-absorbed Hypocrite he is, A-Train definitely needed to be knocked down a peg or two.
• Bright Is Not Good: She often wears colorful clothes, like orange, blue, yellow and red, and is the high-ranking member of Vought. Not to mention that the way she dresses is a crime itself.
• Butt-Monkey: Treated as beneath contempt by almost all of the supes she works with. When she and Homelander fire A-Train, the pink-slipped supe sneeringly identifies Ashley as the person who "used to get [his] coffee." And then there's the Congressional hearing where she ends up covered in blood from nearby exploding heads... The stress downright makes Ashley lose clumps of her hair!
• Catchphrase: In season 1, when addressing Starlight's concerns, she always says "and that is why we love you." before immediately telling her to stick to the Vought-approved script.
• Character Tic: Pulls at her hair whenever she's stressed out. She's pulled at it so much because of the shitshow in Season 2 Ashley has a front row to that she's on her way to becoming prematurely bald.
• Closet Geek: She seems to really like musicals, like Hamilton and Cats. She was also really excited to hear that Lin-Manuel Miranda could play Translucent in one of their movies.
• Covert Pervert: While her fetishes aren't as weird as those of Supes', she still manages to rank pretty high. She apparently likes sado-maso sex with the use dildos with her own employees and when she was down on the dumps she became a nymphomaniac, sleeping with a lot of men in Spain.
• Dirty Coward: Justified. Ashley is a Professional Butt-Kisser who will bow down to Homelander's every command and constantly stroke his ego, regardless of how immoral it is to do so. However, given that Homelander is an Ax-Crazy Physical God, it wouldn't be a good idea for her to piss him off.
• Even Evil Has Standards: While she's a careerist, she also has moments where she caves to basic humanity.
  • She's visibly disgusted watching a teenager at the religious themed Believe Expo being told it's her "responsibility" to convert her friends of other religions to Christianity, whether they consent or not.
  • She is horrified when Homelander brutally bursts the eardrums of Blindspot and leaves him a crying, bloody mess on the floor.
  • When Maeve has a drunken threesome with some men after Elena leaves her, Ashley is horrified at the thought this will tarnish Maeve's reputation as a lesbian icon and starts brainstorming how to get her and Elena back together for good press. When Maeve, who 1) is actually bisexual and thus has every right to sleep with men if she feels like it and 2) is still deeply depressed over the Elena situation, finally snaps at her, Ashley seems genuinely guilty and quietly apologizes.
  • When Deep is forced to eat his octopus Timothy, who he can hear begging for his life, by a sadistic Homelander and his uncaring show wife, Ashley is the only person who appears to be uncomfortable with the situation, only remaining silent so Homelander won't kill her.
  • In the Gen V Season 1 finale, she is at a meeting with the Godolkin U. Board of Trustees to fill a vacant spot in The Seven. One objects to Andre, claiming his skin photographs too dark. She calls him a "racist shit".
• Faux Affably Evil: Tries to act polite and professional, even though she rarely ever means it.
• Inadequate Inheritor: Stillwell was respected and feared by everyone, with only Homelander and Starlight successfully disobeying her orders. Ashley is a Butt-Monkey second only to the Deep and everyone, even the doorman at the Seven's meeting room barely listens to her until she starts screaming at them.
• Jerkass: While it's mostly her doing her job, she cares much less about morals than fame and making the heroes look good and gets huffy when they don't adhere to the rules. Notable examples include her ranting and yelling at Starlight over her public appearance and antagonizing her when she goes off script and not getting names for publicity of an attempted rape, completely ignoring the fact that Starlight saved a person's life. In Season 2 she doesn't seem to have improved much, but still comes off as more sympathetic because appearing alongside Homelander does that to you.
• Jerkass Has a Point:
  • As disdainful as she is towards Starlight, she was right to berate her on how foolish it was to beat up two thugs in her plain clothes in "Cherry". This leads to a video of her doing so leaking online and a high school alumnus recognizing her, effectively compromising her secret identity. She also calls her out for not getting the victim's name since, statistically, she isn't likely to come forward, hence leaving no witnesses, which gives the two men free range to accuse Starlight of unwarranted assault.
  • In season 3 she ends up giving A-Train both barrels over his hypocrisy and double standards. She's still a deeply unpleasant and morally questionable person herself but she's absolutely correct in her verbal beatdown of him.
• Kicked Upstairs: In Season 2, she takes Stillwell's position in Vought. Homelander only gave her the job to fill a spot in the company and to ensure that his plans go the way he wants them to, with her merely being a puppet. Happens again in Season 3, where Homelander makes her CEO after ousting Edgar, but again solely as his proxy.
• Knockout Gas: She and The Deep indirectly use it in Season 3 to knock Queen Maeve out in her cell.
• Laser-Guided Karma: She booked Starlight's appearance at the Believe Expo. But between her and Vought's mistreatment of Starlight and forcing her into their constant scripts and demands, the superheroine had enough and revealed the truth of her frustrations on live TV, resulting in Ashley getting fired.
• Nervous Wreck: Having to be the agent for a group of rude, narcissistic, cynical or just plain psychotic "heroes" will do that to you. It's gotten so bad that by the end of Season 3, it's revealed that she wears a wig after losing so much of her hair from the stress.
• No Social Skills: Despite being a professional PR hack, she's dreadfully bad at handling people and interacting with them. While at first it looks like a general joke aimed at people doing PR jobs, as the show goes on, it turns out to be simply part of her personality.
• Pretty Fly for a White Guy: Shows shades of this when interacting with A-Train, though given she's a white lady doing publicity for a billion-dollar corporation, her grasp on Black culture and current slang is painfully bad.
• Pet the Dog:
  • When Maeve calls her out for only thinking of PR when Elena dumps Maeve, Ashley backs off and apologizes.
  • While harsh about it, she quickly orders one of Vought's board to leave the room after the woman inadvertently pisses off Homelander.
  • She knows that Queen Maeve is alive and survived her sacrifice to stop Soldier Boy, but she, for once, decides to take the moral high ground and delete the footage proving her survival, ensuring that Maeve can have the quiet, happy life that she wanted.
• Politically Incorrect Villain:
  • In "Barbary Coast", she's reluctant to have Silver Kincaid picked for the Seven since she believes she's from Afghanistan, even though it says point-blank on the selection board that she's from England.
  • In Gen V, she dismisses Jordan as a "bigender Asian with pronoun fuckery" and says that they can't be ranked within the top students of Godolkin University because they won't test well in "Dallas and Ft. Lauderdale".
• Puppet Queen: Is named CEO of Vought after Homelander deposes Edgar. It's clear that Homelander is really running the show. When Starlight urges her to stand up to him, Ashley's facade briefly breaks and she tearfully whispers that she can't do anything, before quickly hardening and kicking her out.
• Professional Butt-Kisser: Was getting ready to be this when replacing Stillwell in Season 2. When she tries to make small talk about how bad the old office design was, Homelander quips how he liked it, causing her to quickly agree.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: After A-Train blows up at her for not doing anything about Blue Hawk attacking a crowd of black people, including A-Train's brother, Ashley turns it around on him and calls him out as a Hypocrite and an Ungrateful Bastard, pointing out that he's committed several crimes over the years (including several murders, like Popclaw) that she and Vought have covered up, and that the only reason he gives a damn about this is because it actually affected him. She caps it off by furiously telling him to go fuck himself, and he quietly leaves.
• Sex for Solace: She mentions that after being fired in Season 1, she had a breakdown and decided to travel to Barcelona, where she "let everyone eat [her] paella". Including a guy with elephantiasis!
• The Social Expert: She's the official publicist of The Seven.
• Virtuous Character Copy: While "virtuous" may not be the best word to describe it given that she's still a terrible and rather pathetic person, by the end of season 3 she has become this to Lex Luthor. Like Lex, she's a bald-headed CEO who stands opposed to Homelander, the show's Superman Substitute. Unlike Lex, however, Ashley is hopelessly incompetent and is easily pushed around and bullied by Homelander, who had her installed as the CEO of Vought mainly to use as a puppet ruler while he was the one who actually ran the show. While Lex hates Superman out of jealousy, Ashley hates Homelander out of genuine revulsion at his crimes. Also, her being bald is because she literally tore her hair out over the course of the season from the stress of dealing with Homelander, and unlike Lex, who proudly wears his Bald of Evil, she hides hers behind a wig out of shame.

The Legend

The Legend

Portrayed by: Paul Reiser

"The thing is, to be American means knowing you're the hero."

A retired movie producer and Stillwell's predecessor as Senior Vice President of Hero Management at Vought.

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• Adaptational Job Change: He was the head of Vought's comic book division, Victory Comics. On the show, he used to have Stillwell's job.
• An Arm and a Leg: Lost his leg as a result of Butcher's handling of a supe called Electroshock.
• The Atoner: He aided the Boys in the past as penance for covering up supes misdeeds for Vought.
• Depraved Bisexual: Let's just say his partying with big name celebs, regardless of gender, went a bit further than those old photos show.
  "That's gay now? Fuck you. Who cares?"
• Everyone Has Standards: He's probably one of the least politically correct characters on the show, but he draws a line with insulting the mentally ill, correcting Soldier Boy when he calls the bipolar Mindstorm "crazy".
  • Even before that, he sounds disgusted when he tells Hughie about Soldier Boy's violent actions against protestors during the '60s and '70s.
• Expy: While the comic book version was inspired by Stan Lee, his TV version is based on Star producer Robert Evans, the man who made Paramount into a creative force in the '70s, and who was on trial for drug traffic.
• Hidden Depths: While never outright said, it's implied he was a supporter for the Civil Rights Movement and opposed America's involvement in the Vietnam War, judging by how disgusted he sounds when he's discussing how Soldier Boy brutalized civil rights activists and anti-war demonstrators back in the '60s and '70s.
• Hookers and Blow: He's introduced casually snorting cocaine and commenting about his sexual encounters with actors from the 80s.
• Jerkass Has a Point: He's not wrong when he points out that Billy is a toxic influence who destroys the lives of everyone around him.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: His real name is irrelevant; he is The Legend.
• Speak Ill of the Dead: Curses Stillwell's name, after acknowledging she's dead.

Jonah Vogelbaum

Dr. Jonah Vogelbaum

Portrayed by: John Doman

Dubbed by: Jacques Frantz (European French), Seiya Yamazaki (Japanese)

"The thing about cross-breeding dogs, you get the right genes, you can get a perfect creation. But it doesn't matter how perfect they are. It's not enough."

A former Vought CSO, and the scientist who created and raised Homelander in a sterile laboratory.

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• Abusive Parents: He freely admits to Butcher he abused Homelander to make him stronger, and clearly regrets it in the present.
• Adaptational Nationality: He's German in the comics, but American here.
• Age Lift: Inverted; he's a WWII German defector in the comics, but is at least 20 years younger in the series.
• Blatant Lies: Claims to know nothing about what's happening in Sage Grove. A little "coaxing" from Butcher proves otherwise.
• Big Fancy House: Being Vought's CSO has its perks, as he lives an a giant, sprawling mansion.
• But for Me, It Was Tuesday: When Billy confronts him about imprisoning Rebecca and Ryan, he admits that it was never much more than a "blip on my radar".
• Brutal Honesty: He's incredibly upfront about his failures, regrets and complicity in all the pain he's called.
• Consummate Liar: Homelander ruefully notes telling the truth would be a first for Vogelbaum. He still lies to his face and gets away with it without Homelander suspecting a thing, until Stillwell accidentally blows a hole in the cover story he tells.
• Dark Lord on Life Support: After Homelander tortures him in his questioning in Season 2, he's confined to an electric wheelchair and is assisted by his daughter.
• Decomposite Character: His background as a WWII German scientist and the inventor of compound V is the basis of show-original background character Dr. Frederick Vought.
• Dies Differently in Adaptation: His head is blown up as he is about to testify against Vought, rather than being killed by Butcher.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Vogelbaum might have crafted a dangerous monster and is both directly and indirectly responsible for his fair share of pain and death, but he does genuinely love his family. Considering how his daughter happily takes care of him, it seems he was actually a pretty good family man...in contrast to how he treated Homelander.
• He Knows Too Much: As the head scientist at Vought for decades, he's responsible for many of their darkest secrets. Neuman kills him on Edgar's orders at the Congressional hearing before he can blab about any of them.
• My Greatest Failure: He calls Homelander this, verbatim. Not so much because Homelander was a failed subject, but that how he treated Homelander as a kid created the sociopathic asshole he is today.
• Nerves of Steel: Credit where it's due, Vogelbaum is nigh-impossible to rattle regardless of how big a badass you are or how unpredictably psychotic you might be. He doesn't bat an eye at threats from Homelander or Billy Butcher. It takes threatening his family to adjust his attitude.
• Small Role, Big Impact: He appears in only two episodes, yet his creation using Soldier Boy's DNA and poor raising of Homelander led to the latter's instability and much of the conflict of the series.
• Reluctant Retiree: Despite living in an opulent mansion, he'd go back to 80 hour work-weeks in a second.
• Retired Monster: Vogelbaum is now retired, and typically spends his days stewing in boredom. Back in the day, he was responsible for crafting Homelander into the psychopath we all know and love via heartless abuse in the name of toughening him up.
• Your Head Asplode: Courtesy of Victoria Neuman, when he goes before a Congressional hearing to testify against Vought. He's just the second to die at her hands that day.

Other Employees

Becca Butcher

Rebecca "Becca" Butcher, née Saunders

Portrayed by: Shantel VanSanten

Senior Director of Digital Marketing, and Billy Butcher's wife.

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See tropes in Associates of the Boys.

Seth & Evan

Seth Reed & Evan Lambert

Portrayed by: Malcolm Barrett (Seth), David Reale (Evan)

A pair who work in Vought's marketing department.

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• All Men Are Perverts: They certainly had no shame in redesigning Starlight's outfit to look sexier and skimpier, although this may be subverted since they seem to be coming from a place of appeal to the pervy masses rather than gaining any sexual thrill themselves. They later describe Supersonic as a "panty dropper" because he's popular with teenage girls.
  • Also subverted with Seth's love for Ice Princess, as his love for Ice Princess is because of a romantic connection rather than sexual lust.
• Crippling Castration: Ice Princess accidentally froze Seth's penis during sex, causing it to snap off.
• Everybody Has Standards: For however much they are into increasing the Supes' exposure by whatever means, Seth still finds A-Train trying to rebrand his image around his African heritage to be distasteful.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Downplayed in that Seth and Evan are apathetic to Vought's crimes and the crimes of Vought's supes, but Seth still loves Ice Princess despite looking the other way of the crimes of Vought and their superheroes.
• Love Martyr: Seth still loves Ice Princess even after losing his penis from sex with her, regarding it as the kind of thing that inevitably happens when "a man loves a god".
• Tuckerization: They are named after Executive Producers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg.
• Two First Names: Both of them have last names that can also be used as first names.

Anika

Anika

Portrayed by: Ana Sani

A crime analyst who works for Vought's Crime Analytics Department.

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• Oh, Crap!: Recoils when she sees Black Noir standing next to her and staring down.
• Sole Survivor: The only real crime analyst left in the department after the Deep purges it of anyone who isn't kissing Homelander's ass.
• Sweet Tooth: Downplayed, but she always offers something unhealthy to the Supes that visit her, a Redbull for Homelander and an Almond Joy chocolate bar to Black Noir and Starlight. Over the course of several hours on the clock she's chugged down several cans of Redbull, and somehow she's not having a seizure from the sheer caffeine overdose.

Adam Bourke

Adam Bourke

Portrayed by: P. J. Byrne

A director working on the movie "Dawn of the Seven" from Vought Studios.

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• Actor Allusion: P.J. Byrne previously played Bolin in The Legend of Korra, who was also involved in the film industry. Looks like he's moved on from starring in "movers" to directing them.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: Clearly meant to be a fusion of Zack Snyder and Joss Whedon, two (in)famous directors who have worked on prominent superhero movies. Funnily enough, Homelander actually mentions Whedon rewriting Dawn of the Seven at some point.
• Reassigned to Antarctica: He's forced to teach acting classes at Godolkin U in Gen V after he exposed himself to Minka Kelly, and is clearly not happy about it.
• Some of My Best Friends Are X: When Stormfront mocks his planning for Dawn of the Seven and takes jabs at how he portrays female characters, he takes note that he has three sisters.
• Wag the Director: An in-universe case, and Subverted. Although seemingly nice and upfront about changes made to his script by A-Train, he still stays with what was written and refuses to change anything.

Cameron Coleman

Cameron Coleman

Portrayed by: Matthew Edison

Dubbed by: Yasuhiro Kikuchi (Japanese)

Host of Seven on 7 with Cameron Coleman on the Vought News Network.

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• Alliterative Name: Both his given name and surname start with a C.
• Casual Kink: It's revealed in a hilarious scene with Ashley that he's into femdom, specifically pegging.
• Eagleland: Part of the show's portrayal of Type 2, saluting and praising Gunpowder's junior firearms program for introducing the Second Amendment to children while reporting the deaths of people traveling through the border as the stopping of "super-terrorists".
• Kent Brockman News: Vought News Network barely hides the fact that it's just a mouthpiece for the company. Cameron Coleman's show hammers it further.
• Large Ham: Coleman gets rather passionate and snarky about anything opposing Vought's agenda, eventually lashing out when he hears about the families trying to sue the company for non-consensual exposure to Compound V.
• Mean Boss: In a video released on youtube called ‘Cameron Coleman’s meltdown’ he is shown lashing out at his staff, even screaming at the top of his lungs at them.
• Never My Fault: During the above mentioned video, he keeps blaming his staff for his screw-ups.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: Vought News is clearly a parody of Fox News, and Cameron Coleman is clearly based on Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity.
• Pompous Political Pundit: Cameron Coleman is dedicated to supporting Vought and Supes at every opportunity with smugly-delivered right-wing rhetoric.
• Small Name, Big Ego: Despite being nothing more then an expendable pawn for Vought, he views himself as indispensable.

Also Ashley

Also Ashley

Portrayed by: Sabrina Saudin

Ashley Barrett's personal aide, also named Ashley.

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• Ambiguously Gay: She finds Moonshadow "fuckable", though it is unclear if she is actually attracted to her or was just parroting what Evan was saying.
• Beleaguered Assistant: She serves as this for the Beleaguered Assistant to The Seven.
• One-Steve Limit: Her name is also Ashley, and is credited as Also Ashley.

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